Witkoffs absurd Putin praise: Letters to the Editor Oct. 24, 2026

What prompted US special envoy Steve Witkoff to declare Vladimir Putin a humanitarian when Putin is a pure Nazi (“Vlad saluted as ‘humanitarian,’ ” Oct.22)?Putin signed a law withdrawing Russia from the European Convention for the Prevention of Torture.

What sort of humanitarian would do that?Why is President Trump cozying up to Putin? Cheap oil; it all comes down to chasing the greenback.Imagine if he were president in 1939.Trump’s moral compass comes down to considering how much it will cost the United States to have one.

Remember this in November, American voters.Get rid of Putin and support for Iran disappears, the threats to NATO dissipate and a better peace will reign.M.HilderDorset, UKMS NOW’s Lawrence O’Donnell has called Trump “breathtakingly stupid” more than once on his show, and rightly so.

Trump, however, seems to have company.The hapless special envoy Steve Witkoff called Vladimir Putin “a humanitarian.” Who said two men can’t share the same brain?Bob CanningPetaluma, Calif.Witkoff has either started smoking crack or spent too much time with Putin and fallen victim to Stockholm Syndrome.To call this murdering psychopath a “humanitarian” is going way beyond any etiquette required to bring him to the table to discuss a peace deal with Ukraine.That the greatest superpower in the world has been reduced to kissing this thug’s behind is shameful and embarrassing.Thomas UrbanWantaghWhen Witkoff praised Putin as a “humanitarian,” his words were out of bounds and utterly uncalled-for.Yes, Putin did agree to release an American held captive — but one who was beaten and behind bars for four years.Putin is a coldblooded killer who doesn’t have an ounce of compassion in his heart.This one good deed doesn’t make up for his violent past — or present.Ron ZajicekCortlandtPutin played smart politics and got some of what his country lost from the USSR days.Before the USSR’s collapse, it was one of only two superpowers, al...